Solomon: With no looking back, Yao wears his retirement well

What if Yao Ming were still in the NBA? What if he were still a Rocket? What if he had never suffered a slew of injuries that cut short his basketball career?

Perhaps Tuesday night he would have been in the paint battling Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. Perhaps the Rockets would have made multiple playoff runs. Perhaps they would have won a championship.

Perhaps.

Yao, 31, doesn’t like to spend much time thinking about the whats or ifs, though he admits he allows his thoughts to drift.

“We had a chance before, and we missed it,” Yao said. “There are no ifs. We just need to face ourselves, say we did our best and walk away.”

Yao did that last July, hanging up his gigantic sneakers because his body could no longer withstand the pounding. The 7-6 center put basketball on the map in China, helping establish the NBA in the world’s most populous country, where he served as the unofficial host for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Tuesday’s game against the Lakers was the first Yao has seen the Rockets play this season because their games are not on in Shanghai, as they were when he played for them.

Toyota Center rocked as the Rockets put together a thrilling comeback, overcoming a double-digit deficit in the final minutes to claim a 107-104 victory.

Yao injured his foot against the Lakers in the second round of the 2009 playoffs after leading the Rockets to a first-round win over Portland. Although that was only three years ago, it was a different generation of Rockets, playing for a different coaching staff.

Luis Scola, who had 23 points, was the only Rocket on the court Tuesday who played with Yao against Los Angeles in 2009. Former teammate Ron Artest, now known as Metta World Peace, started for the Lakers.

“It was a great team I played with. Great fans, great media. Everyone treated me very, very well,” Yao said. “I grew my family here, and also I grew myself mentally from a young boy (into a man). This city is full of my experience and emotion.”

A different pace

Yao is adjusting to his new life as a college student at Jiao Tong University in his hometown of Shanghai. The nine-hour days are a far cry from life as an NBA player.

“It’s a different life. Different speed,” he said.

Yao says his left foot, which suffered fractured bones at least three times, is fine, “good enough for walking, but not good enough for playing in a basketball game,” but he looks a little chunky. That happens when you stop working out and start working.

Aside from his studies, Yao keeps busy as the owner of Yao Ming Family Wines, which released a Napa Valley cabernet in China late last year and plans to begin selling in the U.S. this year. Yao also owns a team in the Chinese Basketball Association. The Shanghai Sharks made the playoffs this season with Marcus Landry, younger brother of Yao’s former Rockets teammate Carl Landry, leading the way.

The Rockets are Yao’s team too, and despite being so far away, Houston will always be his American home.

“Just coming to the building, as soon as I drove my car onto the highway, I already felt the emotions,” Yao said. “Everything is just so familiar. It lasted almost 10 years. But today I walked in with a different (identity). But I feel very happy.”

Emotional night

It was a fun, emotional night for the universally liked and respected big man. He clapped as the Rockets chased the Lakers down to claim an important win, undoubtedly reminiscing about the days when the crowd cheered wildly for him.

Yao sat courtside next to former Rocket Robert Horry, who played only four years in Houston but won two championships. Horry went on to win five more titles in a 16-year career.

Basically, Yao played seven NBA seasons, missing more than 20 games due to injuries in three of those. He retired with that single playoff series win.

It must be difficult not to wonder what if.

“I like to look forward,” Yao said. “There are no ifs. There are no ifs.”